


If I Had A Star For Every Time You Brightened My Day, I’d Have A Galaxy In My Hands

by GalaxyBrownies



Category: Undertale, underswap
Genre: AFAB reader - Freeform, Depression, F/M, Female Reader, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, Older brother Sans, Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk, Star Gazing, Younger Brother Papyrus, hand holding, monopoly, sans ships it, you guys I spent a lot of time on this and it’s really personal to me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-14 02:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15379155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyBrownies/pseuds/GalaxyBrownies
Summary: You meet Papyrus in what was probably not the best of circumstances. Your relationship grows from there.





	If I Had A Star For Every Time You Brightened My Day, I’d Have A Galaxy In My Hands

**Author's Note:**

> Spent a lot of time on this. Hope you enjoy, and please comment if you did!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)

Today wasn’t exactly the best day.

It was raining, and your coffee was cold, and… wait, was that your bus? The doors were closing! You break into a jog to try to catch up with it—Aaaaand there it goes. Great. You were even more soaking wet from the rain than before. The bus stop didn’t even have a cover so you could keep somewhat dry.

By the time the next bus comes around, you’re already seriously late for work and considering just calling in sick. You’d get in more trouble for being late than if you “just couldn’t get out of bed today, Mr. Boss Man *insert fake cough*”. 

But you get on the bus anyway, you weren’t one to give up so easily. You step onto the shaking, rattling shuttle (these things were never in the best condition) and observe an incredibly full bus. In fact, every seat was taken. That is, every seat except the one next to the only monster on the bus. Freaking racists.

Well, _you_ had no such qualms against sitting next to what was most likely a decent person. You make your way down the aisle, made paranoid by the way dozens of judgmental eyes followed your form, dripping wet from the rain. You can still feel eyes on you when you finally sit down.

The monster was asleep. How they did that on such a shaky bus, you had no idea. And they were… some kind of skeleton? Not really your business anyway. 

You sigh, a big, upheaving thing that helped to relax you. You lift your paper cup to take a sip of your cold, stale coffee, which was gradually becoming colder and staler. Gross. But you needed it, so you drank more.

You had never seen a skeleton before. At least, not one that was alive. Actually, you hadn’t seen one that was dead, either. Then again, by the way this one was staying asleep despite how their head was rattling like a blender against the window of the violently bumpy bus, you might just be looking at a dead one.

You laugh to yourself, and take another sip of coffee. They would be dust if they were dead, right? They were… fine. Probably.

As you ponder this, the bus hits a speed bump at full speed. Shit! You’re tossed to the side suddenly and smack into the resting form of the skeleton, who jerks awake just in time to watch your cup of coffee rip from your grasp and spill all over their sweater.

“Oh, fuck! I’m sorry!” You yelp in horror as the brown of your coffee spreads and stains the orange fabric. “Shit!” This day was just getting worse and worse. 

They look wordlessly down at their sweater, then back up at you, meeting your eyes. “it’s… fine.” They chuckle. “i needed an excuse to wash it anyways.”

“I’m so sorry! There has to be a way I can help with this?” You bring a hand up to your mouth in embarrassment and extend the other shakily, hovering just over the stain. You felt _awful_. “I’ll wash it for you?”

He seems to think it over for a second, before shrugging and replying, “yeah, sure.” Before you know what’s happening, he’s grabbed your hand and done… _something_.

The world goes fuzzy, slightly blurry, like a dream. Then, all at once, it spins, and snaps, and you’re dumped on the ground in a new place. You shake your head a couple times to clear the blur, then wobble to a stand.

You bring a hand to your head. “W-what just-”

“-shortcut,” he unhelpfully explains. You meet his eye sockets with a wide eyed stare, blinking a couple times in silence.

“You can… you can teleport?” You look to the side for a brief instance before adding, “Why were you riding the bus, then?”

“eh.” He lifts and slumps his shoulders dramatically. “lazy.” 

You have a feeling that you will never understand this guy’s motivation to do anything.

“You didn’t ask.” You fix him with a stare, deadpanning. “It’s generally polite to ask before whisking a girl off to… your house? Is this your house?”

“you _did_ offer to wash my clothes,” He states. “again. lazy. ‘m not gonna walk back.” He hesitates. “and yeah, this is my house.”

It looked to be two stories. Weren’t the monsters only freed a year or so ago? How on earth could they afford a place like this so soon?

“It’s so… open. How did you afford a place like this?” You were honestly in disbelief, head on a swivel as you took in the size of the building.

“gold seems to be worth a pretty penny up here. it’s not much, just a replica of our house underground. it’s cozy.” He really does not seem to understand how expensive this place is. Was he not the one who bought it? You look at him like he’s crazy, but decide to drop it.

“Oh! Um. I never told you my name!” You tell him your name as you hold out your hand. He takes it after a moment of studying you carefully. What was he looking for?

The bones of his hand are cold and smooth on your skin. It’s kind of nice. 

Okay, you’ve been holding this handshake for far too long. You quickly drop the hand like it’s burning hot, fixing a stare to the ground.

“papyrus.”

“Huh?”

“my name. it’s papyrus.”

“O-oh!” You respond quickly. “Right.”

Awkward silence. Your favorite.

“PAPYRUS, WHY ARE YOU HOME?”

You jump at the loud noise and swivel your head towards the sound of the voice. It takes a second for your eyes to focus on the form. Another skeleton? Awww, and this one was cute. Small, and dressed in a lot of blue. Adorable.

“hey, sans.” Papyrus glances at you. “meet sans, my little bro.” He gestures in the smaller skeleton’s direction.

Sans’s face scrunches up into a scowl, and he plants both hands on his hips. “LITTLE? I AM _OLDER_ THAN YOU, BROTHER!” He scolds. “AND WHAT DID YOU GET ON YOUR SWEATER?” You place a hand over your mouth in a light giggle, then frown as you realize the sweater thing was your fault.

“That’s my fault, sorry. We were riding the bus and I accidentally spilled my coffee on him. He brought me back here so I could wash it.”

Sans meets you with blue eye lights. “DON'T BLAME YOURSELF, HUMAN! I’M SURE IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT!”

You nod your head, then extend a hand gingerly and tell the shorter skeleton your name. “It is very nice to meet you.” He grabs your hand without hesitation and shakes it vigorously in greeting. You withdraw after you are certain that your hand might actually come off, then turn to Papyrus.

“Time to wash the hoodie?”

“just don’t be a **_hood_** lum and try and steal it,” He quips in a joking tone, winking for effect.

“Pfft. Snrk-hahaHA!!!” The joke has you chortling good-naturedly. That was pretty clever. You look up at Papyrus to see surprise written all over his face.

“you… laughed,” he mumbles in an astonished tone.

“Yeah?”

“no one ever laughs.”

“NONSENSE!” Sans interrupts in a loud, boisterous tone. “I LAUGH SOMETIMES! WHEN THEY’RE GOOD! WHICH THAT ONE…” Sans switches to a grumble, “WAS NOT.”

“I thought it was great!” You exclaim, clasping your hands together. “You won’t have to **_string_** me along with these,” you nearly sing, tugging slightly on one of Papyrus’s hoodie strings.

You hear a small snort come from Papyrus. “don’t **_sweat_** er it, honey,” he replies.

You chuckle again, straining your mind for another pun. “I’m… out. You?”

“might be a **_hood_** idea to stop before sans loses it,” he states, gesturing towards the smaller skeleton’s direction. 

Sans looks…indecisive. Almost like he wasn’t actually mad about the puns. His eyes flick back and forth between you two, a small smile forming on his face as he observes you both.

“I’LL LEAVE YOU TWO BE,” he decides. Then, quickly backpedaling, spits out quickly, “I MEAN!!! YOUR PUNS ARE HORRIBLE AND I AM LEAVING! NO OTHER REASON! NOW GO BOND!” He lightly shoves you in the direction of Papyrus and the laundry room, and you stumble into the taller skeleton.

“Sorry!” You apologize when his hands come up to steady you. Your cheeks flush just a little bit when you realize how close you are. You jump back. Since when have skeletons flustered you, anyway???

“you really shouldn’t apologize so much,” Papyrus says softly, after a couple moments. “...especially about things that aren’t your fault.”

You pause, eyes flicking back and forth. “...sorry?” You laugh nervously. “Let’s go wash your sweater.”

Ten minutes and one shirtless skeleton later, the washing machine is spinning and rattling with the effort of washing one hoodie, and _you_ are blushing like a fiend.

“wHYAREYOUSHIRTLESS?!?!!” Your face is a bright red as you scramble to cover your eyes and preserve his modesty.

“my sweater’s in the wash,” Papyrus states like it was obvious.

“WhyWereYouNotWearingAShirt, Papyrus????”

“eh. lazy.” 

Was that his excuse for everything??

“Go put on a shirt!”

“ugh. _fine_ ,” Papyrus slumps, and disappears. After a couple seconds, you hear a popping noise from right behind you, and turn your head in time to see him lunging at you with a yell.

“DUDE WHAT THE FUCK,” you shout, surprised.

“heh. did i get’cha?” Seems he was trying to scare you. At least he was wearing a shirt now. It had a pun printed on it! 

You trace the words in midair with your finger, mumbling it out loud to yourself.

“‘A photon checks into a hotel and the bellhop asks him if he has any luggage. The photon replies, ‘No, I’m traveling light.’” The joke sinks in and you give him a little giggle.

“That’s a good one!” You say with a little snort.

“it’s my favorite,” he replies. You think you see a small orange tint on his face, though it could just be your imagination.

“I wish I was allowed to wear that kind of stuff to my job,” you muse. Then your eyes widen with realization. “My- my job!” You put a hand over your mouth. “Shit, I’m _so_ late!”

“where’s your job?” He asks in a relaxed tone. You pull out your phone to look up the address on your maps app, and turn the screen so he can see. He nods in recognition, and offers his hand. Suddenly, you are really glad he put on a shirt.

You move your hand into his, and he closes his eyes. The world goes fuzzy, spins, and snaps, just like before. 

And you’re in your office lobby. No one seems to have noticed the human and monster that just appeared out of nowhere. You probably could have called in sick, but you really needed the money.

You look up at Papyrus. “Thank you so much!” You chirp. “Here, put your phone number in. That way I can… come back and finish washing your sweater?” Okay, that sounded fake, even to you, but you _really_ wanted to be friends with this guy.

Luckily, he doesn’t question it, and types his number into your phone, and hands it back after he snaps a picture of himself. 

“I have to go to work,” you explain, tucking your phone into your pocket, “but it was really nice to meet you, Papyrus!” You wave a goodbye as you turn to walk to your cubicle.

Before you turn completely, you catch a glimpse of him waving sheepishly back.

“bye,” he says softly with a small smile.

—————

You knock on their front door about a week after the bus incident. Something about… tacos? And a dinner. Papyrus had texted you about it.

Papyrus was fun to text. He was pretty good at keeping up the banter, and always had new jokes to tell. You felt comfortable with him pretty fast. 

The door cracks open an inch.

“OH! HUMAN! DID PAPYRUS INVITE YOU OVER?” Sans peeks out from the crack with wide blue eye lights.

“Yeah! I brought…” you hold up a box, “soda? He said there was a dinner and I figured I’d bring something.”

“COME IN!” Sans welcomes you, opening the door open wider. You step inside and he closes it softly behind you. It was strange coming to visit the house on foot when you had only teleported in and out of it before. Something about actually seeing the outside of it was strange.

You place the sodas on the kitchen table and examine your surroundings. It was messier than the last time you were here. It was nice.

“hey,” you hear Papyrus greet you from behind. You swivel to see him. 

“Hey! Thanks for inviting me. I brought soda!” You chirp. Papyrus grins a little wider.

“thanks. why don’t you sit down? sans’ll be done with dinner in a second.”

You nod and plop down on a green couch positioned in the center of the living room. It was kind of lumpy, but overall seemed okay. Papyrus sits down next to you.

“so what’dya do for a living?” He asks in a casual tone. You lean back on the armrest of the sofa, stretching your legs diagonally towards the ground.

“Eh. Just boring desk work. Boss is kind of a prick,” you say with a tired voice. It had been a long day, but at least it was Friday. “I bet whatever you do is much more exciting.”

“i don’t work.”

“You don’t?” You ask with an incredulous tone. How was _that_ supposed to work?

“like I told you last time you were here, gold is worth a helluvalot up here. sans and i won’t have to work another day in our lives.”

“Lucky,” you grumble under your breath. You worked long hours but still struggled to pay your rent sometimes. Living in the city kind of sucked sometimes. These guys were lucky to get a house on the outskirts of the bustling streets, it was so… quiet here. Nothing like the sounds that constantly invaded your living space, all loud cars zooming by at top speeds, and crazy people shouting curse words.

Sans walks in from the kitchen. He has a white apron tied around his waist with the words, “Appreciate the Cook” written in loopy blue lettering. Cute.

“ALL DONE IN THERE!” He exclaims. The smell coming from the kitchen was… interesting? Unique? 

Ah, who were you kidding. It smelled like someone had picked roadkill from the side of the road, then charred it to a crisp. You weren’t going to be the one to tell Sans, though. You’d had your share of bad food, you could fight through the experience. And you brought soda, that could help wash the taste out of your mouth!

You three sit down around the table, and Sans gives you a taco. It looked like he’d… put a lot of effort into it? That was the nicest way you could describe it. The shell was mushy and soft, though it was clearly meant to be a hard taco. The meat was simultaneously undercooked and charred so black that you thought you might break a tooth on it. You give it a small poke. It feels exactly like a rock. You were going to break your teeth, you just knew it. To top it all off, it was _all_ covered in glitter.

“Is this glitter… edible?” You ask hesitantly.

“WELL, OF COURSE! I USED TO USE JUST PLAIN OLD CRAFT GLITTER, BUT PAPYRUS TOLD ME HUMANS COULDN’T EAT THAT! SO I FOUND EDIBLE GLITTER INSTEAD!” He shouts all of this enthusiastically before looking down at his own taco and munching on it furiously. At least _he’s_ enjoying himself.

Papyrus saved you? You look over at him to see him training his gaze intently on his plate, cheeks orange again. What did that mean? You catch his eye briefly and shoot him a sympathetic, appreciative look. The orange coloring returns.

You look back at your own plate. Time to tackle the beast. You take a bite. The taste was…

Indescribable.

You fight the urge to spit it out, also fighting your gag reflex at the same time. You don’t bite down on the “beef”, knowing your dental insurance would not be able to handle the amount of damage that would cause. The pieces were small enough to swallow without chewing, anyway.

You force your uncooperative throat to swallow. There. That wasn’t so bad. Just… the rest of the taco to go.

Against all odds, you finish your food, nearly drowning yourself in the amount of soda you consume to cover the taste. You’d never be able to look at Sierra Mist without remembering the taste of those tacos (if you could even call those monstrosities tacos) again.

You collapse back onto the sofa with Papyrus after Sans insists against you helping with the dishes, citing that you were the guest and should be relaxing.

“it’s kind of late,” Papyrus comments. “are you gonna be able to get home okay?”

You look out the window. He was right, it was kind of dark. And your apartment wasn’t in the best neighborhood.

“You could teleport me back?”

“i prefer the word ‘shortcut’,” Papyrus replies nonchalantly. “and, sure, i’ll-”

“NONSENSE!” Sans calls from the kitchen, apparently having overheard the whole conversation. “THE HUMAN SHOULD STAY HERE TONIGHT!”

“Tonight?” You didn’t have any plans. “I mean, it’s fine by me if it’s okay with you,” you decide.

“i have nothing against it,” Papyrus murmurs lazily.

“MOVIE NIGHT!” Sans shouts, running out of the kitchen. 

So that’s how you end up sandwiched between two skeletons on a lumpy couch with a bowl of popcorn in your lap. At least Papyrus had helped make the popcorn, you weren’t sure Sans would be able to do much besides turn it into rock.

The way Sans is sitting, feet stretched out slightly, pushes you closer to Papyrus. Not that you were complaining, that sweater was awfully soft…

Before you know it, the movie ends, the popcorn bowl is empty, and you are feeling extremely tired. It had taken a lot of will to not fall asleep on Papyrus’s sweater. He barely knew you, after all!

You were sitting up when Sans suddenly pipes up.

“I AM GOING TO GO UP TO MY ROOM TO SLEEP. YOU TWO SHOULD DEFINITELY STAY DOWN HERE. FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN SLEEPOVERS, OF COURSE!!!! ABSOLUTELY NO EMOTIONAL BONDING SHOULD TAKE PLACE AS A RESULT OF YOUR COMPLIMENTARY PERSONALITIES, OF COURSE!” Sans has shifty eyes. You let out a little giggle. He was a really bad liar.

“Night, Sans,” you call out as he heads upstairs.

“yeah, night, bro,” Papyrus says in an amused tone.

The door upstairs closes, and you relax again.

…

…

You are still laying on Papyrus’s sweater.

You jerk yourself backward with a flushed face. “Sorry!”

“no, no, it’s alright. you can relax on me if you want. skeletons are notorious for being soft, after all,” He jokes.

“Pfft, yeah right. All those soft and cozy skeletons taking up pop culture,” you roll your eyes, but lean back towards him again. It was incredibly relaxing. Something about Papyrus made it feel natural to talk to him. It felt like you’d known him for far longer than you actually had.

“thanks again for coming over,” Papyrus says softly. You look up at his eye lights, shining brightly in the dark room. “i- sans really enjoyed himself.” He avoids your gaze for a couple seconds after that.

“Thanks for inviting me,” you reply. “I haven’t had an actual friend in… a long time.”

“really? you’re so fun to talk to,” Papyrus asks in confusion. 

“Same to you.”

Papyrus is quiet for a little bit. He finally responds in a quiet tone, “thanks, honey.”

 _Honey_? The pet name quickly has you blushing and you turn your head into his sweater to hide the coloring on your cheeks.

“H-honey?”

You can physically _feel_ his smirk at your reaction. “not used to nicknames? i got a whole selection. honey, sugar, sweetheart, and so on. guess you’ll be hearing them a lot more from now on.”

You make a sound like a dying seal, muffled slightly by the soft fabric. Papyrus bursts out laughing, placing a hand in your hair comfortingly.

After a long silence, you ask him, “What’s your favorite thing you’ve seen since coming to the surface?”

“hmm…” Papyrus muses. “...the stars.” That made sense. He’d never seen them before they’d escaped.

“Got a favorite constellation?”

“darlin’, i know every star-damned constellation up there. i can’t choose just one.”

You let the statement wash over you. “Will you… show me them one day? I don’t know anything about constellations, and stars and all that. It could be nice.”

Papyrus hums in affirmation. “yeah. i’d like that.”

He never removes his hand. He actually starts stroking your hair, and despite all efforts to not fall asleep on him, you can’t help but feel comforted and soothed by your friend.

You wake up the next morning laying across his chest, your arms wrapped around him, and his arms wrapped around you. The soft morning light coming in through the window casts an orange glow on the room. Eh, you’d already fallen asleep on him once. Wouldn’t hurt to just..stay here. Right?

You lay your head back down on his chest, listening to the soft hum of magic you can hear reverberating from it. Within minutes, you’re already asleep again.

Right where you belonged.

—————

“yOU FUCKING CHEATER!” You shout, slamming a piece down onto the board. You had to fight the urge to not upend the whole thing. That would be rude, though. You’d known them now for half a year, but it wouldn’t be right to act like that.

“sweetheart, chill. it’s just monopoly.” You’d finally had to grow used to his insistent use of pet names after the first month. You’d grown to rather like them, actually.

“‘Just monopoly’ my _ass_! No one is this good at _monopoly_!” You were starting to regret suggesting this game, but after six months of knowing them, you’d figured it was time to suss up their skills.

“I’M THIS GOOD AT MONOPOLY,” Sans interjects, but you ignore him.

“relax. it’s just the luck of the dice.”

“Except for the fact that you happen to have telekinesis.”

“except for the fact that there’d be an orange glow around the dice if i was using it.”

“Except for the fact that _you know I’m not that observant_ , Papyrus.”

“not my fault if you can’t accept that i’m just made of luck,” Papyrus teased. There’s something about the small smirk on his face and the way he tilts his head to convey the teasing tone… it makes you blush. “pfff. why are you blushing?”

“Wha- nO! I am _not_ blushing!” You scramble to bring your hands up to cover your face. 

“you can say that all you want, but your face tells me otherwise~” he sing songs. Yep, that is _definitely_ a smirk. And that is _definitely_ really very super attractive. Never in your life did you think you’d find a skeleton attractive, yet here you were.

You bring your hands down from your face and scowl at Papyrus. “And _your_ face tells me you like seeing me blush. I wonder why _that_ could be~” you tease back. Oh. Woah. You see orange on his face again. Could that be...? “Are _you_ blushing now?”

“what? no. of course not,” he replies evenly. It actually looks like the truth. Hm. He’s either a _really_ good liar, or he’s not actually blushing. 

But then you catch the uncertain look in his eye and you know.

He’s just a really good liar.

“You liar!” You crow. “You’re totally blushing!”

“I WON.”

You spin and turn to look at Sans.

“You… won?”

“YES. WHILE YOU TWO WERE ARGUING I KEPT PLAYING. I WON.” Could you even play while the other game members were arguing? You were inclined to call bullshit… but maybe not. It was only fair that he took advantage of you two’s shenanigans. “SINCE I WON, I THINK IT’S ONLY FAIR THAT I CHOOSE THE NEXT GAME.” When you nod for him to continue, he states confidently, “TRUTH OR DARE.”

“but bro, that’s not even a board game!”

“WHO’S THE _OLDER_ BROTHER HERE?” Seems he was still sore over being introduced as the little brother. “SO. PAPYRUS. TRUTH OR DARE?”

“w-me?”

“YES.”

“agh- fuck. dare?” He looks at his brother with uncertainty. You look at Sans and see a small, malicious smile grow slowly on his face.

“I DARE YOU TO KISS THE HUMAN.”

“What?!” You jump back a foot. “We’re just friends!” Well, your friend was a hot, hot skeleton, but still.

“we can’t do that! we’re like… best buds?” Best buds was a good descriptor. You two talked about everything. Papyrus was great at helping you deal with your issues, and you were almost always at their house.

“FUNNY THAT YOU ASSUMED THAT I MEANT ON THE MOUTH,” Sans muses, obviously enjoying himself. “BUT, I SUPPOSE IF YOU’RE TOO _CHICKEN_ TO-”

“-I’ll do it.” Your momma didn’t raise no coward.

“sugar, what?!”

“I _said_ , I’ll do it.” You pause, before adding. “On his cheek.” You can hear Papyrus audibly let out a breath. Did the breath sound… disappointed? Nah, must be in your head.

You scooch a little closer to Papyrus, whose face is beginning to actively resemble a traffic cone. That was kind of funny, actually.

Face burning, you lean in, and place your lips on his cheek bone. After a couple seconds of contact, you pull back and catch his eye. He looks...taken aback.

You cough, and scoot back to your previous spot. “A-anyway. I did the dare.”

“ACTUALLY, I DARED PAPYRUS,” Sans deadpans, and Papyrus splutters. Shit, he was right. “BUT! I SUPPOSE THIS WILL HAVE TO DO.”

You sigh in relief. That was difficult enough to do.

“my turn? um.” Papyrus thinks for a second, then nods towards you. “truth or dare.”

“Truth?” You were _not_ ready for whatever he’d have cooked up for you in a dare.

“hmmm…” He taps a phalange on his chin in thought. “who do you consider to be the best friend you’ve ever had? ex-friends or not.”

Now your face was _really_ aflame. “You,” you respond after a moment’s hesitation. You think your voice cracked a little, but you decide to pay it no mind.

There’s a heavy silence throughout the room after your proclamation. You can’t help but glance at Sans, who has the biggest grin on his face, and stars in his eyes. He just kept getting cuter, didn’t he?

Then you look at Papyrus.

He just looks… so _touched_. You can see the surprise and admiration shining in his eye lights. 

No one is saying anything. You start feeling a little anxious, so you blurt out, “I mean, it’s fine if you don’t feel the same and I d-don’t want to rush anything but I’ve really enjoyed all the time I’ve spent with you guys and IDontWantItToEndAnd-”

Your next words are cut off by Papyrus pulling you into a warm hug. Surprised, you falter before wrapping your arms around him in turn. It felt like you fit just right here, like two pieces of a puzzle that finally meshed just right.

You rest your head in the space where his neck meets his torso, and close your eyes. Papyrus pulls you a little closer. This was nice. This felt right. 

When you finally let go, you’re surprised to find tears beginning to prick the sides of your eyes. You guess you needed that. That was one damn good hug.

“don’t think things like that about yourself,” Papyrus tells you softly with a warm smile. He brushes a strand of hair out of your face. “of course i feel the same way.” His smile widens a little more. “how could i not?”

There’s a high pitched squealing noise coming from somewhere in the room, almost like a kettle. Confused, you turn your head to see Sans vibrating, both hands clasped under his chin, with an expression like he’d just witnessed the most adorable thing in his life. The sound is clearly coming from him.

“Sans? Are you okay?” You ask with a little laugh.

“YES! YES, OF COURSE I AM FINE!” He replies after collecting himself. “I’LL LEAVE! NO USE IN INTERRUPTING THIS BEAUTIFUL MOMENT!” Before you can interrupt him to tell him that he didn’t have to leave, he’s already sprinted out of the room.

You cough to clear the awkwardness he leaves in his wake.

“so. um. _that_ was unbearably mushy.”

“I liked it,” You reply sheepishly.

“you did?” He looks to the side. “i… wouldn’t be opposed to doing it again, then?”

So you hug him again. You hadn’t noticed the first time, but he had an overwhelming scent of honey. And smoke. And maybe a hint of citrus? You wouldn’t in your wildest dreams expect those smells to combine well, but they did. 

“I’m sorry that you have to deal with my problems so often,” you mumble into his sweater. It was out of nowhere, but you had spent many nights talking to him about your depression, your self-loathing… you didn’t feel like you deserved his friendship. 

“no,” Papyrus states with a stern voice, pulling you out of the hug for a second to look you in the eye. “you don’t apologize about that. not anymore.” It was tough breaking that habit, but you tried. 

“Haha. S-”

“nope. not this time either.”

You tilt your head. You weren’t sure what else to say to that. “S-” He places a hand over your mouth. 

“no.” He takes the hand away when you sigh in defeat, and you bury your head into his shoulder again.

“Fine,” you chuckle. “You win.”

“damn straight i do,” he grumbles, and you laugh again. You loved talking to Papyrus. He had a way of making you feel better even when you were in the worst mood. He helped you to see yourself in a better light, to not focus on imperfections as much.

You squeeze him a little tighter. You don’t want this to end. Your friendships always ended, much too soon. You were unbearable to be around, it seemed. But Papyrus… Papyrus stuck around. 

“Thank you,” you whisper.

—————

You spread the blanket out on the grassy hill, placing weights down on each corner. You wouldn’t want it to blow away, after all. 

“you ready to lay down, now?” Papyrus asks in amusement. He had insisted you didn’t even need a blanket, but you weren’t looking to get bugs in your hair.

“Yeah, fine,” you sigh, with a small smile you can’t get rid of. “You ready to show me the stars after more than _eight months_ , you doofus?” You tease.

“heck yeah i am,” he replies, smoothing out the spot next to him. You lay down next to him and lay your head on his shoulder, smiling.

“So what’s our first one?”

Papyrus thinks for a moment, before raising a hand up and pointing at the sky. “that one’s auriga. ‘the charioteer’.” You think you can see where he’s pointing, but you aren’t sure. Honestly, this trip was worth it just to spend time with him, and to hear his voice. 

“The stars are gorgeous.” You’d driven a long way away from the city to get this view, and you didn’t regret any of the effort it had taken. The sky was beautiful, speckled with so many stars you weren’t sure how the sky held them all.

“they are,” Papyrus replies in a tone of awe. He clears his throat. Did he even have a throat? Ah, doesn’t matter. “that one is cassiopeia.”

“What’s the story behind that one?”

“it’s kinda long-winded, but basically a queen named cassiopeia claimed she and her daughter were prettier than the ‘nereids’. the greek god of the sea sent a serpent to kill her family, so they tried to sacrifice her other, apparently less attractive daughter, to it.”

“I feel bad for the daughter,” you reply in a joking tone. “She must’ve been scared.”

“eh, it’s just human mythology, anyway. never really happened.” Papyrus looks at you. “besides, there are worse things to be scared of.”

You make an affirmative sound. “Agreed. Like… I’m scared of the ocean? Kind of.”

“pfff,” Papyrus laughs. “so _that’s_ why that story freaked you out so much,” he jokes, wrapping an arm around you in a hug. You could live off of his hugs.

“That’s not my worst fear!” You exclaim defensively.

“then what is?”

You hesitate, before elaborating. “I’m scared of… abandonment. People always leave me. I’m just scared it might happen again.” You sit up abruptly, wrapping your arms around your legs in upset. “What about you? Only fair.”

Papyrus sits up to draw evenly with you. He looks like he’s trying to decide whether or not to answer truthfully. He takes a breath, and tries to start a sentence, but fails at the last second.

He tries one more time, a light orange blush covering his features.

“i’m scared of… i’m…” he takes one more breath and looks you directly in the eye. “i’m deathly afraid of you. and how you make me feel.” Your breath quickens, face flushing. He… he…

You lean in, hand finding his and wrapping your fingers around his. Your faces were already so close so you just…

You kiss him. You press your lips tightly against his mouth and he parts his teeth slightly in response, once he realizes what is happening.

As if recovering from a delayed response, he moves his hand so your fingers are interlaced, shifting his body so his chest is pressed flush against yours. You can feel his magic thrumming throughout his body as his other arm wraps around your upper back, pressing you impossibly close to him.

Something in your chest sings with a realized want, a tugging feeling making you want to be closer, closer. You kiss him a little harder, tongue finding its way into his mouth and meeting his.

And then, you’re out of breath. You pull back, panting heavily. That was… the best kiss you’d ever had. You flick your eyes back up to meet his, and are startled by the amount of _love_ you can feel exuding from him.

You press your lips to him one more time, lingering for a couple of seconds before pulling away again. 

“I love you, Papyrus,” you whisper, and you know it’s the truth.

“i love you too,” he says with a choked tone, voice cracking. He pulls you into another kiss. “god.” Kiss. “i love you too.” Kiss. You dig your fingers into his sweater, absorbing the smell and the sensations you find so intoxicating.

The kiss feels desperate, as if he was a starving man and you were the only thing that could feed him. He digs his free hand, the hand not currently clutching yours like a lifeline, into your hair, pulling you towards him as he leans back slightly.

You break apart, finally, chests heaving and breath desperately trying to return to your lungs. You cling to his hand as you rest your head on his chest, just now realizing that you are currently sitting in his lap.

“I KNEW IT!” A voice shouts from right behind you. You scream and fall backwards.

“Holy shit!”

“ _fuck_ , sans.” Papyrus does not seem happy. You turn to see where he has his gaze trained.

“You _followed_ us?” You ask the short skeleton, as you pointedly remove yourself from Papyrus’s lap.

“AS THE _OLDER_ BROTHER, IT IS ONLY RIGHT THAT I MAKE SURE THAT MY YOUNGER BROTHER IS COMPLETELY SAFE WHEN SITTING ON DARK ABANDONED HILLS FIFTY MILES OUTSIDE OF TOWN.” 

“No offense, but what the _fuck_?” You cross your arms over your chest. Well, one of your arms. The other is still hopelessly tangled with Papyrus’s. You don’t really want to remove it.

“I KNEW YOU TWO LIKED EACH OTHER! ALPHYS OWES ME TEN BUCKS!”

“Who the hell is Alphys?” You ask. He’d gotten _other people_ involved in this?

“A QUESTION FOR ANOTHER TIME. FOR NOW, I’LL LEAVE. HAVE FUN, KIDS!” Sans exclaims in a teasing tone, before blipping out of existence.

“Sans can shortcut also?” You turn towards Papyrus.

“sure can.”

“Why doesn’t he all the time, then?”

“i dunno.” 

It didn’t really matter. As you looked up at Papyrus, and melted into another kiss, you thought that maybe there was a better time for thinking about such things.

For now, you had more important things to do.

**Author's Note:**

> ;p
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://galaxybrownies.tumblr.com)


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